Buzz Surrounding Bee Colony in Silo City | News
BUFFALO, NY - Mixed into the historic landscape of the old grain elevators that once dominated the Buffalo skyline, lies a modern piece of architecture, known as Elevator B.
On its own, the 22 foot high stainless steel tower might not be enough to draw you in, that is until you take a peek around and inside.
There you'll find thousands of honeybees.
For at least the past seven years, an estimated 15,000 bees set up colonies behind a boarded up window of the nearby vacant American office building. They were left alone until the property owner decided he wanted to use the space.
Rick Smith, CEO of Rigidized Metals, teamed up with the UB School of Architecture and Planning and started a contest in which groups of students designed potential honeybee high rises.
The bees were evicted back in June with the help of a local beekeeper, who sucked them up with a modified shop vacuum and transported them to their new home in Elevator B.
Bee colonies worldwide have collapsed due in part to pests and disease, so preserving the local colony is important.